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R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It

DVD cover
Directed by Alex Zamm
Produced by Dan Angel
Billy Brown
Written by Dan Angel
Billy Brown
Starring Emily Osment
Cody Linley
Brittany Elizabeth Curran
Tobin Bell
Alex Winzenread
Music by Chris Hajian
Cinematography Jacques Haitkin
Editing by John Gilbert
Todd C. Ramsay
Distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date(s) United States September 4, 2007
Running time 104 minutes
Country  United States
Language English
Followed by Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?

R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It is an American 2007 children's Horror Fantasy film loosely based on the children's book of the same name by R. L. Stine. The film was released on DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007, and was the first family direct-to-video film to be released on DVD in separate widescreen and pan and scan formats.[1] On September 7, 2007 it was released as a television film on the Disney Channel.

The film was directed by Alex Zamm, written by Dan Angel and Billy Brown and stars Emily Osment, Cody Linley, and Tobin Bell.

Contents

Plot

Cassie (Emily Osment) is a 15-year-old goth girl who just moved to a new neighborhood and school. She loves playing tricks on the popular kids at school (she filled a pinata with bugs at her school's halloween dance) and her younger brother Max (Alex Winzenread).

On the way to the library, Cassie finds a mysterious Halloween store down an alley and goes inside. The store owner (Tobin Bell) sells her a book called The Evil Thing which contains a warning on the front page: "DO NOT READ ALOUD." That night, Priscilla (Brittany Elizabeth Curran), who stole The Evil Thing from Cassie's bag in school, gets back at Cassie and films her jumping in fear, quoting from the book. Cassie ignores the warning in the book and reads it to Max to get back at him for turning off her computer in the middle of her writing a report:

“

The Evil Thing is a gruesome beast.
On living flesh it loves to feast.
It's a two-headed thing whom you don't wish to greet.
One head sucks your blood, one head chews your meat.
It carries its babies in slimy eggs on its back.
The babies are hungry when they hatch for a snack.
So the Evil Thing traps some poor victim alive,
For the babies to eat when their birthdays arrive.
But don't worry, don't cry, please don't have a fit.
The Evil Thing is not real...
Unless you think about it. Just remember, don't think about it.

 ”

Later that night, the Evil Thing, brought to life by Max's thoughts, captures him, Priscilla, and a Papa John's pizza delivery man. It is up to Cassie and Sean (Cody Linley) to save them.

At first, they try to defeat The Evil Thing on their own, but fail. Cassie then asks the owner of the shop where she got the book for help. Cassie discovers that the store owner travels around the world each Halloween, searching for the person who loves to scare people the most. He makes her feel guilty by saying it was only because of evil deeds that he came there. He leaves them only a riddle for help: "Two heads are better than one. That's the way to get the bloody job done.", before making his shop disappear leaving them on the sidewalk, to which Cassie cries "Well what does that mean ?". Sean brilliantly makes remarks that solve the riddle. Together, they formulate that if they get blood from a roast that Cassie's mother made and throw it on the Evil Thing it will be forced to suck up the blood and in doing so will devour itself. By using Sean's CD of monster sound effects as a "mating call", they were able to lure the monster to the CD player; however, when the monster nudged it, it turned into hip hop music, thus ruining their plan. After fumbling for the blood because neither of them wanted to pour the blood onto the monster, they accidentally drop the blood nearby recently freed Max who must conquer his fears and save the day. Thanks to Cassie encouraging him, Max tosses the blood onto the Evil Thing, causing its heads to begin attacking it each other, beginning to eat itself, eventually causing it to explode in a shower of yellow blood, taking its offspring with it.

With The Evil Thing destroyed, Max, Sean, and Cassie save Priscilla, who angrily accuses Cassie of being a witch, and Sean rejects Priscilla in favor of Cassie. After Priscilla leaves, they save the pizza guy who offers free pizza in return for his release. After eating the free pizza, they burn the book and rid themselves of The Evil Thing. After coming home, their parents find the book only singed in the fireplace. The father mockingly reads it aloud, reviving the Evil Thing; the movie ends with Cassie realizing it is not over yet. But who turns off the light when their mom and dad come back home?

The screen then goes dark and the store owner says "Happy Halloween", followed by maniacal laughter.

Cast

  • Emily Osment as Cassie Keller
  • Alex Winzenread as Max Keller
  • Cody Linley as Sean Redford
  • Brittany Elizabeth Curran as Priscilla Wright
  • Tobin Bell as The Stranger
  • John Hawkinson as Mr. Keller
  • Michelle Duffy as Mrs. Keller
  • Michael Dickson II as The Pizza Guy
  • Nigel Ash as Ralph
  • Katelyn Pippy as Erin

Production

The movie was filmed throughout Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania and the borough of Seven Fields, Pennsylvania, in October and November 2006.

Music

The film's score was written by Chris Hajian. The film also included five songs by Pop/rock and indie rock musicians and one original song.

Reception

While Doug Bentin calls the main character Cassie as "the main attraction" of the film;[2] William David Lee describes her as merely fitting into the standard role of an outsider.[3]

The use of pizza delivery in the film has been regarded by critics as "overly integrated product placement".[4] Heather Boerner criticized the film for its over the top use of Papa John's Pizza. She wrote, "Not only is the pizza delivery guy included in more than half of the DVD, but the logo is present and the kids are shown munching ecstatically on the pizza at the end of the movie. They even say things like, "What great pizza!" and something along the lines of "That delivery guy sure was nice!" It's enough to make a commercial-conscious parent gag."[5]

External links

References

  1. ^ DVD review of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It
  2. ^ Doug Bentin, "Review of The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don’t Think About It (Universal, 2007)," The Long Saturday of the Soul: Stuff to enjoy, think about, and dream of on those days without work (October 1, 2007).
  3. ^ William David Lee, "Review of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It," DVDTown.com (Sep 3, 2007).
  4. ^ Heather Boerner, "Review of R.L. Stine's Haunting House: Don't Think About: Tween-friendly, ad-happy Halloween fright fest," Common Sense Media.
  5. ^ Heather Boerner, "Review of R.L. Stine's Haunting House: Don't Think About: Tween-friendly, ad-happy Halloween fright fest," Common Sense Media.
Films directed by Alex Zamm
1990s
2000s
Inspector Gadget 2 (2003) · Snow (2004) · The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It (2007) · Dr Dolittle Million Dollar Mutts (2009)
Emily Osment
Television
EPs
Singles
Soundtracks
Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 10 · DisneyMania 6 · The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It Soundtrack · Holidaze Soundtrack
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